Carolyn B. Shimek, 98, died Saturday, May 21, 2011, at Cottage Grove Place following a brief illness. Services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 25, at Brosh Chapel in Cedar Rapids, located at 2121 Bowling Street SW. Burial will follow in Czech National Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. May 24 at Brosh Chapel.

Chelsea Lynn Peterson, 9-month-old daughter of Drew and Jennifer (Gavin) Peterson, of Quantico, Va., died April 28, 2011, in Quantico.
Surviving locally are her uncle and aunt, Anthony and Sarah (Gavin) Moeller of Solon.

Emma Bertha Novak, 101, of Ely, died Sunday, May 15, 2011, at Mercy Medical Center. Services were held May 18 at St. John Lutheran Church in Ely, with the Rev. Ericka Uthe presiding. Burial followed in Rogers Grove Cemetery near Ely.

Delores R. Mullinnix, 63, died peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Thursday, May 12, 2011. Funeral Mass was celebrated May 17 at St. Patrick Catholic Church, with the Very Rev. Rudolph Juarez officiating. Burial at Stumptown Cemetery in River Junction followed a luncheon at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to St. Patrick Catholic Church or Iowa City Hospice.

Marcia Dee Morris, 81, a resident of Willow Gardens, Marion, formerly of Anamosa, died May 14, 2011. Memorial services were held May 18 at Cedar Memorial Park Chapel of Memories, Cedar Rapids. The Rev. David Hagstrom of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church officiated. Inurnment was at Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery, Cedar Rapids.
Surviving locally is her son, Matt Allbee of North Liberty and grandchildren, Shawn and Jessica Allbee.

A memorial celebration for Richard Krause will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 29, at the Brandon Community Center, Brandon. Richard’s family lived in the Solon area for 17 years before moving to Arizona where Richard died December 10, 2010, in Sun City West.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the charity of the donor’s choice in Richard’s name.
Van Steenhuyse-Russell Funeral Home is caring for Richard’s family. Condolences may be left and a full obituary may be viewed at www.vsrfh.com.

Rick A. “Griff” Griffin, 54, of North Liberty, lifelong resident of the Iowa City area, died Thursday, May 12, 2011, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after a courageous battle with cancer.
Funeral services were held May 17 at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established in his memory. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web at www.gayandciha.com.

David Emil Becicka, 61, of Coggon, died Monday, May 16, 2011, at Mercy Medical Center. Services were held May 20 at Brosh Chapel in Cedar Rapids. Burial followed in Czech National Cemetery.
David was born Nov. 6, 1949, in Cedar Rapids, the son of Joseph and Lila (Pierson) Becicka. He married Shirley King Lubbock on May 23, 2003, in Cedar Rapids. He was a union electrician for over 42 years, most recently with Nelson Electric.
David is survived locally by a brother Jerry (Bonnie) Becicka of Swisher.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Joan Stansbery.

It’s long been said that necessity is the mother of invention. I don’t know who said it first, possibly Benjamin Franklin– it’s the sort of thing he is given credit for, but I can only guess since I’ve misplaced my book of famous quotations. I suspect that all those famous pronouncements weren’t exactly original to Franklin in the first place. It’s more likely that he decided to write down all the wise and apt pronouncements he heard from other people and put them in Poor Richard’s Almanac, thus getting credit for them.